Getting ready for Christmas

This past week has been one of the hardest in a long time. The ladybird has been ill for 8 days now. We've had lots of broken nights, high temperatures, rashes, tears (mine & her's), days of feeling guilty for not being at work, days feeling guilty for being at work whilst she is sick (being looked after by her daddy or grandma) and two trips to the out of hours GP. We are also in the process of buying and selling a house. In amongst though I have been trying to get in to the festive spirit. Here's hoping the rest of December is a bit easier.

The ladybird will be 20 months at Christmas. Too young to understand what it is all about but even so I have started festive activities with her.

She has her first advent calender this year, just a basic chocolate one.

I've started making her a fabric one which I hope will be ready for next year. I dream of filling it with treats and also invitations to do festive activities (similar to this and this).

We took her to Tatton park on Friday evening to see Father Christmas arrive. She wasn't especially impressed but on Saturday she came down with a virus so probably wasn't feeling her best Friday either. We plan to take her back next year and hope that it might become a family tradition of ours. It includes a lantern parade as well as seeing father Christmas and his reindeer.

The Christmas books are out and being read. She got a selection of 5 or 6 last year but I can only find one of them but we have bought a few more this year anyway. I suspect the missing ones are packed up in a box in my parents garage, as our house is currently on the market and we are hoping to move early in the new year. I love the idea of a book advent calendar and I'm hoping that next year we could do one too.

We watched the snowman on Friday and the ladybird sat through all 30 minutes of it appearing to enjoy it. She even found the energy to do a little dancing during the snowman's party scene. I look forward to watching more Christmas films during December, even if they will mainly just be on in the back ground while she plays (she rarely sits still when she is well).

I have a few ideas for Christmas play & crafts that I hope we have time to do & share with you once the ladybird is well again. I bought her this lovely Christmas happyland set which I plan to include in some sensory play and I'd love to make hand print Christmas tree decorations.

There is also the tree to find room for & decorate and we've got a few festive days out planned that hopefully we will fit in soon. Right now though I'm going back to snuggling with the ladybird, perhaps I'll find a Christmas film to watch (or more likely just more Ben & Holly!).